New Citizen

from our oath ceremony.....
New Americans......



went to hospital after the ceremony...hahahaha

Ocean City vacation..............

Harrisburg

Pictures from my digital cam

Harrisburg

Matea Kezman........Serbian Pride

Kezman, Mateja
Mateja Ke?man
Nationality: Serbia
Birth Date: 12.04.1979
Current team: Atl.Madrid
Main Playing Position: striker
Secondary Position: right winger
Secondary Position: left winger

Serbia

NAPRED PLAVI

RSS coalition meeting

RSS coalition meeting at CC/Hbg.
Some of the pictures from our montlhy meeting.

Facts about coalition:

n March of 2000, all of the officially recognized refugee service organizations in the Central Pennsylvania region agreed to form a cooperative organization, the Refugee Services Coalition of Central Pennsylvania (RSCCP), in order to best serve the needs of refugees arriving in Central Pennsylvania communities.
Current RSCCP member agencies include:

* Immigration and Refugee Services, Catholic Charities (IRS/CC);
* Lutehran Children and Family Service (LCFS);
* PRIME - Ecumenical Commitment to Refugees (PRIME-ECR); and
* the Institute for Cultural Partnerships (ICP).

Member organizations are equal partners in this coalition. Coalition members collectively function as the regional refugee social services provider. The Coalition?s directing and policy-making body is a management team made up of the directors of these four refugee service organizations. The management team meets regularly to assure proper cooperation and coordination among the service providers and invites other non-refugee service organizations to meetings as well.

The Coalition?s mission is to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services to enable refugee families to attain self-sufficiency as soon as possible after arrival in the Central Region through a well coordinated network of refugee resettlement and service programs; to increase the cooperation among all service providers and other organizations serving refugees in the Region, and assure optimal utilization of existing resources and prompt response to problems and new initiatives as they occur.

Sunday Service at Serbian Orthodox Church

Pictures from todays services at Steelton Serbian Orthodox Church.

Serbian Slava

Most non-Orthodox Christians, with very few exceptions, celebrate the day of their birth in a non-religions, non-liturgical manner, usually placing it second in importance to their Christmas and, often, higher than their Easter. Orthodox Christians seldom give their birth date more than a passing notice. For the Orthodox, everything centres on Christ and His Holy Church. The "personal feast day" of the year is not the date of birth, but rather the feast of God's Saint after which one is named. This day is called the "name day", the Imeneny of the Russians, and it is kept in one form or another throughout the Holy Orthodox Christian Church as a feast of deep spiritual meaning.

In addition to the name day, the Serbs have a very special variation of this wonderful tradition. With them, the name day is not an individual event, but rather a family affair. The feast is called, in Serbian, Slava (Thanksgiving or Glory-giving) and is kept on the feast day of the patron Saint of the entire family. The special spiritual depth of the Slava can only be understood when one realizes that the family celebrates it on the feast day of the Saint which has been the special patron of that family for centuries - ever since the family became Christian. For generations, the patron Saint's day has been a special uniting force in the family, bringing it together to give glory and thanks to God the Creator and Saviour.

On the day of the Slava, the home becomes "a church in miniature and the family becomes the congregation, reminding us that the Church is a family magnified". It is the tradition for all members of the family to gather, usually at the home of the eldest living member of the family, to commemorate the patron Saint, to glorify God and to pray for all members of the family, both the living and the reposed. This is perhaps the most beautiful aspect of the Slava: that it celebrates the unity of Christ's Church both on earth and in heaven. The Slava is a sort of spiritual family reunion. Those who are not present in fact are present in spirit; not only living family members who are unable to he present, but also the forefathers of the family who have fallen asleep in Christ, faithful to His Holy Church. The grave does not separate Orthodox Christians one from another.

The Slava is a purely religious celebration and this is epitomized by the slavsky kolach (slava cake) - a special version of the Paschal Kolach (Kulich in Russian) which is baked for the occasion and which bears the family's prosphora seal with the sign of the Cross and the anagram for "Jesus Christ is our victory". The kolach also bears representations of the dove of peace and of the first-fruits of the harvest. When the slavsky kolach is placed on the table, a bowl of kolyivo is placed next to it. Kolyivo (kutiya) is made of boiled wheat mixed with honey and spices. The wheat, of course, symbolizes the Resurrection of Christ and, by that, the hope of resurrection vouchsafed to all who dwell within His Holy Church. The kolyivo, consisting of wheat gathered up and set apart for the feast, also symbolizes the oneness of all true Orthodox Christians everywhere, gathered together and set apart from the rest of the world.

Often, an ikon of the family patron is placed on the table next to the kolach and the kolyivo. The local priest is called to come and bless the home and all those present, offering prayers for the health and well-being of those unable to be present and for the peaceful repose of the forefathers of the family. The highlight of the feast is the service of the Thanksgiving Prayer (molieben) which is served by the priest before the ikon of the family patron saint.

There is a very interesting true story concerning the family ikon left to us by the late archpriest David Popovich who served for many years as the priest at the Serbian church in Youngstown, Ohio. The following article contains this story [Family Icon].

Sveti Jovan

Sveti Jovan Prorok, Prete?a i Krstitelj Gospodnji
St. John the Baptist
Sabor Sv. Jovana (Zimski Sv. Jovan)
20. januar

Sveti Jovan je bio savremenik Hristov i njegov ro?ak, po telu, jer je majka Jovanova bila tetka majci Isusovoj.Jo? od rane mladosti Jovan je ?elio usamljeni?ki, pustinjski ?ivot. Zato, kad odraste, odva?i se i ode u pustinju, u predjele oko donjeg toka reke Jordana. Tu, u samo?i, sav se predao Bogu i svom pozivu. ?ivio je jednostavno: hranio se akridima (bubama sli?nim skakavcima) i medom od divljih p?ela, a odijevao se u haljinu od kostreti, na?injenu od kamilje dlake, preko koje se opasivao kai?em. Visokog rasta, crne kose i brade, mr?avog i preplanulog lica od sunca, ulivao je strah svojom pojavom.

Jovan je kr?tavao svakoga ko se pokajao u rijeci Jordanu i to se njegovo kr?tenje nazivalo u znak pokajanja, ali ne i opro?tenja grehova.U to vreme i Isus je po?eo svoje javne propovijedi, a kad ga je Jovan prvi put ugledao, re?e: "Gle, kako krotko ide! To je jagnje Bo?je, koje uze na sebe greh sveta. Bog je htio da ja svedo?im za Njega, i ja velim da je Duh sveti na Njemu i da je On Bo?ji Sin".Sveti Jovan je posljednji veliki prorok. On se naziva Prete?a jer se pojavio prije Hrista i po?eo pripremati ljude za njegovu nauku. Krstitelj se naziva zato ?to je krstio Gospoda Isusa Hristosa. Sveti Jovan je primjer karaktera ?vrste volje, odva?nosti, pravi?nosti, istine i po?tenja.



Na ikonama se Jovan slika kako kr?tava Isusa na Jordanu, ili kako stoji i desnom rukom pokazuje na nebo, a u lijevoj dr?i dug krstasti ?tap, preko koga stoji traka sa ispisanim re?ima: "Pokajte se jer se pribli?ava carstvo nebesko", ili, u desnoj ruci dr?i pove?i tanjir i na njemu odsje?enu glavu, kao simboli?ni znak svoje smrti.

Sabor svetog Jovana je 20. januara (7. januara) zato ?to je, pri kr?tenju Hristovom, 19. januara (6. januara), posle Boga Oca i Svetog Duha, najva?niju ulogu imao Jovan kao Krstitelj, pa mu se odmah po kr?tenju dan i posve?uje.

U narodu postoji obi?aj da se ljudi bratime i kume "po Bogu i svetome Jovanu", vjerovatno zato ?to se Jovan smatra uzorom karakternosti i po?tenja.

Desna ruka Svetog Jovana danas se nalazi u Cetinjskom manastiru, a djelovi i cestice mostiju u mnogim relikvijama sirom Svete Zemlje i Svete gore Atonske. On za zivota nije ucinio ni jedno cudo, ali nad njegovim mostima, do danas, zabeljezena su bezbrojna iscelenja.

Humans Interesting Facts

* Grapefruit scent will make middle aged women appear six years younger to men. The perception is not reciprocal and the grapefruit scent on men has no effect on women's perception.
* Women blink twice as many times as men do.
* Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
* We are about 1 cm taller in the morning than in the evening. Layers of cartilage in the joints gets compressed during the day.
* There are approx. 550 hairs in the eyebrow.
* The strongest muscle in the human body is the tongue.
* The life span of a taste bud is 10 days.
* The world's youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910.
* The largest known kidney stone weighed 1.36 kilograms.
* Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin.
* Kidney stones come in any color--from yellow to brown.
* Babies are born without kneecaps. They appear when the child is 2-6 years of age.
* The average human produces 10,000 gallons of saliva in a lifetime.
* If you ate too many carrots you would turn orange.
* The force of 1 billion people jumping at the same time is equal to 500 tons of TNT.
* A baby is born every seven seconds.
* You can tell if a skunk is about if you smell only .000000000000071 ounce of its spray.
* You breathe about 10 million times a year.
* The colder the room you sleep in, the better the chances are that you'll have a bad dream.
* The foot is the most common body part bitten by insects.
* The most common time for a wake up call is 7 a.m.
* The typical person goes to the bathroom 6 times a day.
* The fastest growing nail is on the middle finger.
* The most sensitive finger on the human hand is the index finger.
* The human body weighs 40 times more than the brain.
* After eating too much, your hearing is less sharp.
* A person swallows approx. 295 times while eating dinner.
* Your urine will turn bright yellow if you eat too much asparagus.
* There are more people alive today than have ever died.
* The human body is better suited to two four-hour sleep cycles than one eight-hour one.
* A man's beard contains between 7000 and 15,000 hairs.
* A beard grows an average of 140mm a year
* A hair is 70 per cent easier to cut when soaked in warm water for two minutes
* Women's hair is about half the diameter of men's hair
* During an average lifetime, a man will spend 3,350 hours removing 8.4 meters of stubble
* 4.5 million people have their health 'adversely affected' by air pollutants each year.
* 4 million children die each year from inhaling smoke from indoor cooking fires that burn wood and Dung
* 4 million people die annually from diarrhea infections, caused by poor sanitary conditions
* The hardest bone in the human body is the jawbone.

Are You Genius ???

Quick Eye Exam...


This will blow your mind...!



Just do it - don't cheat!!!!!!!!!!!!



Try this its actually quite good.



But don't cheat!



Count the number of F's in the following text:

FINISHED FILES ARE THE
RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC
STUDY COMBINED WITH THE
EXPERIENCE OF YEARS



Managed it?

Scroll down only after you have counted them!








OK?

How many?






Three?









Wrong, there are six - no joke!



Read again!




FINISHED FILES ARE THE
RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC
STUDY COMBINED WITH THE
EXPERIENCE OF YEARS



The reasoning is further down...

The brain most likely wasn't able to process the "F" in "OF".


Incredible or what?

Anyone who counts all six F's on the first go is a genius; three is normal.

I had six....so am I GENIUS....
ha,ha, ha it's your call!!!

Language Interesting Facts

* The first word spoken on the moon was "okay."
* Seoul, the South Korean capital, just means "the capital" in the Korean language
* The name of all the continents end with the same letter that they start with
* The "you are here" arrow on maps is called an ideo locator
* The word "lethologica" describes the state of not being able to remember the word you want
* In English, "four" is the only digit that has the same number of letters as its value
* Q is the only letter in the alphabet that does not appear in the name of any of the United States
* The word "trivia" comes from the Latin "trivium" which is the place where three roads meet, a public square. People would gather and talk about all sorts of matters, most of which were trivial
* TYPEWRITER, is the longest word that can be made using the letters only one row of the keyboard
* "Speak of the Devil" is short for "Speak of the Devil and he shall come". It was believed that if you spoke about the Devil it would attract his attention. That's why when you're talking about someone and they show up people say "Speak of the Devil"
* The word "Checkmate" in chess comes from the Persian phrase "Shah Mat," which means, "the King is dead"
* The sentence "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter in the English language
* The only 15-letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.
* Canada is an Indian word meaning "Big Village"
* Stewardesses is the longest word typed with only the left hand
* The most common name in the world is Mohammed
* The longest non-medical word in the English language is FLOCCINAUCINIHILIPILIFICATION, which means "the act of estimating as worthless".
* Mafia in Old Arabic means 'sanctuary.'
* The longest word in the Old Testament is "Malhershalahashbaz."
* Karoke means 'empty orchestra' in Japanese.
* The first message tapped by Samuel Morse over his invention the telegraph was: "What hath God wrought?"
* The first words spoken by over Alexander Bell over the telephone were: "Watson, please come here. I want you."
* Papaphobia is the fear of Popes
* The Academy Award statue is named after a librarian's uncle. One day Margaret Herrick, librarian for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, made a remark that the statue looked like her Uncle Oscar, and the name stuck.
* The first words spoken by Thomas Edison over the phonograph were: "Mary had a little lamb."
* The three words in the English language with the letters "uu" are: vacuum, residuum and continuum.
* A baby in Florida was named: Truewilllaughinglifebuckyboomermanifestdestiny. His middle name is George James
* 'Dreamt' is the only English word that ends in the letters 'mt'
* There are only four words in the English language which end in '-dous': tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous
* The word 'Bye' is used in both English and Spanish meaning the same thing
* Pogonophobia: The fear of beards
* In Chinese, the words crisis and opportunity are the same
* The infinity character on the keyboard is called a "lemniscate"
* Good bye came from God bye which came from God be with you. So-long came from the Arabic salaam and the Hebrew shalom
* The word 'nerd' was first coined by Dr. Seuss in 'If I ran the Zoo'
* before Jets, Jet lag was called Boat lag
* The word "monosyllable" actually has five syllables in it
* There are no words in the English language that rhyme with silver and orange
* The letter "n" ends all Japanese words not ending in a vowel.
* It is believed that Shakespeare was 46 around the time that the King James Version of the Bible was written. In Psalms 46, the 46th word from the first word is shake and the 46th word from the last word is spear.
* 'Zorro' means 'fox' in Spanish
* You won?t find a "6" in Cameroon phone numbers--the native language has no sound for "x."
* The only 15-letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is "uncopyrightable."
* Clans of long ago that wanted to get rid of their unwanted people without killing them would burn their houses down--hence the expression "to get fired."

Otto von Bismarck, "Founder" of the German Empire

Otto von Bismarck, born on April 1, 1815 at Sch?nhausen, is considered the founder of the German Empire. For nearly three decades he shaped the fortunes of Germany, from 1862 to 1873 as prime minister of Prussia and from 1871 to 1890 as Germany?s first Chancellor. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his death on July 30, 1898, German News remembers the great German statesman. Prince Otto von Bismarck, portrait

After reading law at the Universities of G?ttingen and Berlin, Otto von Bismarck entered Prussian service and became a judicial administrator at Aachen. Bismarck gained prominence in 1851 when he was chosen to represent Prussia in the Federal diet. In 1859 he was sent as ambassador to Russia, from where he was recalled in March 1862 to become ambassador to France. However, already after 6 months in September 1862, Bismarck returned to Berlin as prime minister of Prussia when he devoted himself to the task of uniting Germany. In the war of 1866 he succeeded in defeating Austria and excluding it altogether from Germany. Also the Franco-German War (1870-71) ended with Prussian success.

This victory instigated the kingdoms of Bavaria, W?rttemberg, Baden and Hesse to join the North German Alliance, an alliance of Prussia and 17 northern German states created by Bismarck in 1866, which led to the declaration of the German Empire (Deutsches Reich) in 1870 and the proclamation of King William I of Prussia as German Emperor in Versailles in 1871. The imperial constitution was declared in April 1871. Bismarck was appointed imperial chancellor. The chancellor of the Reich was not responsible to parliament but to the Emperor. The Reichstag, the imperial parliament, was convened by uni versal, equal, direct and secret elections. Next to the Emperor, it was the second most important institution. However, its political influence was limited to the area of legislation. It exerted only a very small influence over the formation of governments and government policy. Characteristic of the Reich was the ?government over the parties" and the restriction of the peoples? representation to a position in which it was only able to express a non-binding opinion on important political questions. The system was described at the time as a ?chancellor dictatorship". It was Bismarck as Imperial Chancellor who decided upon policy outlines and who proposed the appointment and dismissal of state secretaries who were in turn responsible for the administration of the ministries of the Reich.

Bismarck?s greatest achievements, however, were the administrative reforms, developing a common currency, a central bank, and a single code of commercial and civil law for Germany. Bismarck also became the first statesman in Europe to devise a comprehensive scheme of social security to counter the Social Democrats, offering workers insurance against accident, sickness and old age. In foreign affairs, he, as a master of alliances and counter-alliances, presided over the Congress of Berlin (1872) and this seemed to symbolise his paramount position as mediator between the then great powers such as Russia, Austria, France, Great Britain. An alliance with Austria-Hungary (1879) marked a new period of conservatism in Bismarck?s foreign policy. William I, German Emperor, 1871 and Prince Otto von Bismarck (painting by A. von Werner)

But by 1890 his policies began to come under attack. On March 18, 1890 two years after Emperor William II?s accession, Bismarck was forced to resign. His last years were devoted to composing his memoirs.

Germany became the first nation in the world to adopt an old-age social insurance program in 1889, designed by Germany's Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck. The idea was first put forward, at Bismarck's behest, in 1881 by Germany's Emperor, William the First, in a ground-breaking letter to the German Parliament. William wrote: ". . .those who are disabled from work by age and invalidity have a well-grounded claim to care from the state."

Bismarck was motivated to introduce social insurance in Germany both in order to promote the well-being of workers in order to keep the German economy operating at maximum efficiency, and to stave-off calls for more radical socialist alternatives. Despite his impeccable right-wing credentials, Bismarck would be called a socialist for introducing these programs, as would President Roosevelt 70 years later. In his own speech to the Reichstag during the 1881 debates, Bismarck would reply: "Call it socialism or whatever you like. It is the same to me."



The German system provided contributory retirement benefits and disability benefits as well. Participation was mandatory and contributions were taken from the employee, the employer and the government. Coupled with the workers' compensation program established in 1884 and the "sickness" insurance enacted the year before, this gave the Germans a comprehensive system of income security based on social insurance principles. (They would add unemployment insurance in 1927, making their system complete.)





One persistent myth about the German program is that it adopted age 65 as the standard retirement age because that was Bismarck's age. This myth is important because Germany was one of the models America looked to in designing its own Social Security plan; and the myth is that America adopted age 65 as the age for retirement benefits because this was the age adopted by Germany when they created their program. In fact, Germany initially set age 70 as the retirement age (and Bismarck himself was 74 at the time) and it was not until 27 years later (in 1916) that the age was lowered to 65. By that time, Bismarck had been dead for 18 years.

Brothers 4 ever

neco


maki

On the way to work

Amish

Here something about Amish population in Lancaster area.

I am working in Lancaster and see some of them on the road almost every day.
I just got my camera with me today on the way to one of my appointments and took the picture from inside of my car.


The Amish people in America are an old religious sect, direct descendants of the Anabaptists of sixteenth-century Europe. Not to be confused with the term anti-Baptist, these Anabaptist Christians challenged the reforms of Martin Luther and others during the Protestant Reformation, rejecting infant baptism in favor of baptism (or re-baptism) as believing adults. They also taught separation of church and state, something unheard of in the 16th century. Later known as the Mennonites, after the Dutch Anabaptist leader Menno Simons (1496-1561),
a large group of Anabaptists fled to Switzerland and other remote areas of Europe to escape religious persecution.





During the late 1600s a group of devout individuals led by Jakob Ammann broke away from the Swiss Mennonites, primarily over the lack of strict enforcement of Meidung, or shunning - excommunication of disobedient or negligent members. They also differed over other matters such as foot washing and the lack of rigid regulation of costume. This group became known as the Amish and, to this day, still share most of the same beliefs as their Mennonite cousins. The distinction between the Amish and Mennonites is largely one of dress and manner of worship.

The first sizeable group of Amish arrived in America around 1730 and settled near Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, as a result of William Penn's 'holy experiment' in religious tolerance. The Pennsylvania Amish are not the largest group of U.S. Amish as is commonly thought, however. The Amish have settled in as many as twenty-four states, Canada, and Central America, though about 80% are located in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. The greatest concentration of Amish is in Holmes and adjoining counties in northeast Ohio, about 100 miles from Pittsburgh. Next in size is a group of Amish people in Elkhart and surrounding counties in northeastern Indiana. Then comes the Amish settlement in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The Amish population in the U.S. numbers more than 150,000 and growing, due to large family size (seven children on average) and a church-member retention rate of approximately 80%.


By some estimates, there are as many as eight different orders within the Amish population, with the majority affiliated with one of five religious orders - Old Order Amish, New Order Amish, Andy Weaver Amish, Beachy Amish, and Swartzentruber Amish. These churches operate independently from each other with differences in how they practice their religion and conduct their daily lives. The Old Order Amish are the largest group and the Swartzentruber Amish, an offshoot of the Old Order, are the most conservative.

"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature"
Mark 16:15

Harrisburg/Lancaster Weather today

oh, you have to feel it....rain, rain and rain.

"I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness"
John 8:12

King Nemanja

I have had couple of requests about to explaine the name 'Nemanja', our oldest son. Here is a little story about King Stefan Nemanja after whom we named our son.











Nemanjics' period (1186-1353)

Nemanja(pr. NE-ma-nya; arguably related to 'Nehemiah') was born in Podgorica (POD-go-ree-tsa; modern capital of Montenegro), sometime after 1113. Although his early years are somewhaat obscure - even his year of birth and the actual identity of his father Zavida are both widely disputed - Nemanja nonetheless appears to have been at least indirectly related to the Raskan ruling family. Yet, the state institutions and subsequent spiritual legacy established by him and his sons marked such a break with earlier practices, that these (probably more so than uncertainties of his lineage) marked him as a founder of a brand new dynasty - indeed, one that was to become virtually synonymous with the glory of medieval Serbia.

Nemanja's rise to power comes sometime during 1166-8, first from the appanage of Dubocica (city of Leskovac), in the shadow of his elder brother Tihomir - a Byzantine appointee - and together with the two other brethren, Stracimir and Miroslav. Rising fraternal disputes effectively dissolved this tetrarchy, leading to the decisive battle of Pantino in Kosovo, where Tihomir perished, and Nemanja - aided, tradition has it, by St. George - prevailed. He was thenceforth to reign supreme as Grand Zupan, having secured pledges of allegiance from his two surviving brothers. This assertion of unity - perhaps as much as an opportunistic attempt to ride a short-lived tide of Hungarian-Venetian aggressiveness towards Byzantium - led him on a collision course with his nominal overlord, emperor Manuel. Abandoned by Western allies and facing a superior Byzantine force, Nemanja nevertheless did show political prowess and farsightedness. His spectacular surrender to Manuel in 1172, followed by seemingly humiliating ceremonies of submission at Constantinople - all ultimately led to his return and consolidation of power and stability in an autonomous Raska for the next eight years.

Seal of Grand Zupan Stefan Nemanja

Not surprisingly, however, Nemanja's loyalty to the emperor did not survive the latter's death in 1180. During the 10-year aftermath, he took advantage of Byzantine internal disorders and a more favorable international situation (which included Hungarian, Crusader and Norman regional interests) to expanded considerably in all directions at the Empire's expense. Eastward, acquisitions included, among other areas, the plains of Kosovo, territory between Western and Great Morava (with the city of Nis, which then served as a capital), Timok and northern Macedonia. On the other side, most Adriatic coastal and littoral regions from Zahumlje, through Travunija and Zeta, to the Lake Skadar region were added. Despite initial hostilities, relations between Raska and the important merchant city-state of Dubrovnik were settled by the 1186 treaty that provided for a symbiotic relationship between the two throughout most of the Nemanjic dynasty. Further Serbian advances were checked by Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angelos, in 1190; however, the ensuing peace treaty left most acquisitions intact for the Serbian (Raskan) state, along with full recognition and an amicable disposition from the ailing Constantinopolitan court.

Having achieved considerable political successes on all fronts, the Nemanjic dynasty founder ensured smooth succession at the Sabor (council) of Ras, in 1196. There he abdicated in favor of his middle son, Stefan, and having bequeathed all his earthly possessions, proceeded to a life of spirituality as monk Simeon. He soon joined his youngest son (the future St. Sava), at the monastic community of the Holy Mountain (Mt. Athos) in Greece, where the two were shorlty to build the key center of Serbian spiritual life, the famed Hilandar (Chilandari) monastery. Nemanja's deeds as a practical earthly sovereign were matched by his religious fervor and faith, as evidenced, above all, by his numerous church foundations and other generous ecclesiastic donations. Apart from Hilandar, his key endowement - the majestic Studenica monastery - as well as Djurdjevi Stupovi and several others, remain as lasting monuments to this effect. Nemanja-Simeon was canonized shortly after his death in 1200, his feast being on Feb. 26 (13). As word of the wonderworking quality of his relics spread throughout the realm along with the awareness of his deeds, so did the general veneraton of Simeon the Myrrh-flowing - as he came to be known as a result. While technically not the first Serbian saint, it was the establishment of his cult that laid the foundation for a firm national identity - backed at first by a strong state establishment, but ultimately surviving on its Christian ethics alone - for many centuries to come.

Maki bolje

Thanks God Maki is better today and cold/fly is going away. Thank You Father Jockovich for generous letter you wrote to us. I feel sorry I could not be there for our church celebration and do some photography, but....you'll understand. I explained and there is nothing I could have done. Sveti Sava, Serbian holiday is coming and I hope to be able to handle the task you gave me.

Thank You Father

church 1
s.jovic

pct.003
s.jovic

Maki boestan

Makica nam je malo bolestan....trenutno je na Zitromax lekovima. Prehlada je zavladala u Hbg tako da smo svi pomalo kasljucavi.

Serbian Christmas

I went to daycare another day to pickup my children, just before our Christmas (January 7th) and had a little conversation with Nemanja's teacher about Serbian Christmas. Here I would like to explain differences and why we celebrate on January 7th.



Christmas for Serbs who are Christian Ortodox, comes two weeks later than that of Roman Catholics. Serbs do not celebrate Christmas on December 25th, but on January 7th, while they celebrate New Year on January 13th rather than on December 31st. This is because the Serbs follow the Julian calendar, while Roman Catholics follow the Gregorian calendar.

The Gregorian reformation of the calendar came into force on 1582. It made corrections in the Julian calendar, the ten days from October 5th to 14th were canceled. Of course, not all countries changed over to the Gregorian calendar at that time. Germany, for instance, didnБ─≥t accepted the Gregorian calendar until 1775, while Bulgaria didnБ─≥t do so until 1917!

Serbs, like the most other people, accepted officially the Gregorian calendar, but all holidays, specially of cultural or religious contents, were celebrated according to the Julian calendar.


Badnje Vece Б─⌠ Christmas Eve
January 6th

On the day before Christmas, the 6th of Januray, Serbs celebrate Badnje Vece. It is necessary to prepare badnjak (yule log) in advance. The Christmas Eve got its name from the badnjak tree. Actually badnjak is the most beautiful young oak that one can find in the woods.

The 6th of January, in the morning, the habit is to go in search of badnjak (oak branches with leaves). When the right one is found, it is necessary to cut it and bring it to the door of the home and to leave it there.



In the villages, where one still can find homes with old-fashioned hearths, the custom is that the father and the oldest sun go out to pick up the badnjak and to nock on the door of their home. Mother opens the door. Entering, they should say to the mother: "Welcome to you Badnje Vece! ("Christmas Eve")" and take the badnjak to the fireplace and place it on the fire to augure good fortune.

The custom is also to put straw around the fireplace, to simulate the connection with the earth. Usually, Serbs put coins, walnuts, almonds, dry figs on the straw, all the gifts for the children.

The traditional January 6th supper for Serbs is religious diatary meals, usually fish.

Christmas Eve supper is very interesting. It is very rich even if it is always meatless meal. Symbolically the food is always related to the world of death Б─⌠ baked beans, fish, dryed figs, dryed plums and apples.

At the end of supper, all the rests of the food should be left on the table and covered with a tablecloth, until Christmas morning. The belief is that during the night the spirits of the dead come to eat the food left for them. This way Christmas Eve has the character of All SoulsБ─≥ Day.

Before going to bed it is very important to cover the badnjak with hot ash so it will burn slowly to the following morning.



In the morning of January 7th, Christmas, the first person that enters the home is called "polozajnik". This person should stoke the fire in the fireplace and say the following:

"How many sparks, that much sheep. How many sparks, that much money. How many sparks, that much health!"



The Polozajnik is then offered the "zito" (boiled wheat Christmas speciality) and black wine. The guest makes the sign of the cross and eats a bit of the "zito" and drinks some wine.

Before lunch, while the fire is burning, the tradition is to place the pork or turkey to roast slowly for Christmas dinner.

Breakfast
and the cicvara

For breakfast the habit is to prepare "cicvara" (a dish made of flour, eggs, butter and cheese). On the table are served also small dry cakes, dry figs and the famous plum brandy called "Sljivovica". Usually the "Sljivovica" served is home made and at least ten years old! Another custom is to prepare a bowl in which young wheat is planted to grow during the forth coming year. The meaning is should be fertile and that the family will have luck.

All persons gather around the table, family and guests, while the father lights the candle. That moment marks the start of "mirbozenje" (peace and reconciliation). Partecipants than kiss one another at Christmas time while saying: "Mir Bozji". If there were any disagreement, all are forgotton.

During the entire Christmas day a custom is to replace a classic: "Hello" or: "Good day" with: "Hristos se rodi" (Christ is born!) and as greeting in reply: "Vaistinu se rodi" (Really born!). Nowadays itБ─≥s a habit to call relatives or friends by phone and instead of saying a classic "good morning", one sais: "Hristos se rodi!".

Lunch
and the Cesnica

On Christmas day, lunch gets underway earlier than usual and lasts longer. The menu is very rich (see recipes). In contrast to Christmas Eve that relates to All SoulsБ─≥ Day, Christmas relates to the cult of agriculture.

Nowadays, in the cities, before lunch the family throws the straw under the table (manБ─≥s relation to the earth).

Traditionally essential part of the Christmas dinner is a type of flat, round Christmas bread called "cesnica".

It is prepared using stalk of the last weat harvest filling them with kernels of different grains.

Christmas bread is made of flaky dough in which a gold or silver coin is imbedded. In ancient times it was a ducat, nowadays a coin of great value.


"Cesnica" is always very nicely decorated with braids, birds or roses made of dough.

The traditional Christmas day menu must include a piglet roasted over the fire of oak tree logs!


As this is possible only in the villages, families in the cities almost always order their Christmas pork roast from bakers who exclusively use oak for the roasting fire.

Symbolicly the Christmas day meal marks the end of the period of abstinence as well as a ritual in which the food and the pork is considered a sacrifice made to god. All the members of the family must taste the roast pork and cesnica.



Other traditional Christmas table foods include "sarma" made of stuffed sauerkraut leaves, the soup and, in the area of serbia once ruled by the Austo-Hungarian Empire, a dense soup dish called "corba".



The desserts usually include three kind of cakes and small cookies.

The candle that burns all day is blowen out in the evening with red wine.